Combined shovel and poker.



No- 804,148. PATENTED NOV. '7, 1905.

J. W. MAXWELL.

COMBINED SHOVEL AND POKER.

APPLLOATION FILED P111244. 1905.

J: Mmellflwvamtbz UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented NOV. 7, 1905.

Application filed February 14, 1905. Serial N0. 245,632.

To a whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOSEPH WEILIE MAX- WELL, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Louisville, in the county of Jefferson and theprincipal objects is to provide a simple structure of a novel naturewhich will constitute either an efficient shovel or a poker, theelements serving to constitute the former not interfering with thesuccessful use of the article when converted into the latter, saidarticle constituting a shovel which can be readily emptied and which is,furthermore, selfsupporting, all of which will be clear upon aconsultation of the following specification in connection with theaccompanying drawings.

In said drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of one embodiment of theinvention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is a longitudinalsectional view. Fig. 4 is a side elevation showing how said article isselfsupporting. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view, on an enlargedscale, of the poker-finger and its connection with the handle-shank andFig. 6 is a detail perspective view of the shovelblade.

Similar reference-numerals designate corresponding parts in all thefigures of the drawmgs.

In the embodiment illustrated a handleshank 7 is employed having ahandle-grip 8 at one end, the other end being offset, as shown at 9.Carried by the offset terminal is a poker-finger 10, which whileextending in the same general direction as the handleshank is located atan inclination thereto and preferably has its under side roughened, asshown at 11, the free terminal, moreover, being formed into a stove-lidlifter, as shown at 10 A shovel-blade 12 is employed having an offsetstem 13 at its rear end, which stem is suitably pivoted to thehandle-shank 7 contiguous to the offset terminal. The preferable mannerof pivotally connecting the said stem and shank is, perhaps, to providethe latter with an opening or slot 14, through which the stem 13 passes.'A pivot 15, extending transversely through the slot, also passesthrough the stem. It will of course be clear that this arrangement canbe varied. A handle-lever 16 is pivoted to the shank 7 contiguous to thehand-grip 8, one end of said lever being preferably located in a slot.or opening 17 and held therein by a pivot 18. This pivotal connectionmay also be varied, as will be apparent. Connecting the lever 16 and thefree end of the blade-stem 13 is a link 19, and thus by swinging thehandle-lever the blade can be swung.

If desired, the coacting portions of the handgrip 8 and lever 16 may beroughened, as shown at 20, thereby forming a nut-cracker, and the freeend of said hand-grip 8 may be rovided with a claw-hammer head 21.

When the hand-lever 16 is located upon or against the hand-grip 8, theshovel-blade will be disposed alongside of and substantially parallel tothe poker-finger, the latter being received in the former. The saidshovel-blade is, however, capable of swinging rearwardly and to aposition wholly in rear of the poker-finger and the offset terminal 9.This rearward movement is limited by the end walls of the slot 14, andthus when the parts are so located the free ends of the shovel-blade andpoker-finger constitute an extended base which will support the articlein upright position, as illustrated in Fig. 4. When in this position,moreover, the said article is capable of being used as a poker or as astove-lid lifter, as will be apparent, and the finger 10 being entirelyfree and unobstructed the article can be used as such Withoutinterference.

When the article is converted into a shovel, the poker being housedwithin the blade is entirely out of the way, and to empty the shovelwhen filled it is only necessary to release the handle-lever 16,whereupon the weight of the material on the shovel will cause the sameto drop. This, it will be apparent, is ver convenient for many purposes.The s ovel-blade and poker may, moreover, be employed as tongs, theroughened side 1 1 of the finger 1O coacting with the adjacent face ofthe shovel-blade and serving to hold the material against movement onsaid blade. Thus there is a distinct advantage for the pivoting of theblade, as it permits the employment of the fingers as a poker, permitsthe convenient emptying of the shovel, and, furthermore, constitutes abroad transverse bearin which, in connection with the spaced en of thepoker-finger, is sufficient to support the article.

From the foregoing it is thought that the construction, operation, andmany advantages of the herein-described invention will be apparent tothose skilled in the art without further description, and it will beunderstood that various changes in the size, shape, proportion, andminor details of construction may be resorted to without departing fromthe spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

Having thus-described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a combination article of the character described, the combinationwith a handleshank having a poker-terminal carried by one end of thesame and immovable with respect thereto, of a shovel-blade pivoted tothe end of the shank having the poker-terminal, said shovel-blade beingmovable to a position alongside the poker-terminal and swinging to aposition wholly in rear thereof, and means mounted on the handle-shankand connected to the shovel-blade for swin ing the same.

2. In a combination artic e of the character described, the combinationwith a handleshank having a poker-terminal carried by one end of thesame and immovable with respect thereto, of a shovel-blade pivoted tothe end of the shank having the poker-terminal, said shovel-blade beingmovable to a position alongside the poker-terminal and swinging to aposition wholly in rear thereof, means mounted on the handle-shank andconnected to the shovel-blade for swinging the same,, and means forlimiting the rearward movement of the shovelblade with respect to thepoker-terminal, said blade and terminal constituting an extended basefor supporting the article in u right position.

3. In a com ination article of the character described, the combinationwith a handleshank having an offset end, of a poker-fin er carried bysaid end and extendin in angu ar relation to the shank, a shovel-b adehaving an an ularly-disposed stem pivoted between its en s on the shankcontiguous to the ofiset end, said shovel-blade being movable to aposition alongside the poker-terminal and substantially parallel theretoand also swinging to a position wholly in rear of the offset terminal ofthe shank, a handle-lever pivoted upon the shank, and a linkconnectingthe lever and stem, said poker-finger and shovelblade beingarranged toassume an angular relation and form an extended base forsupporting the article in upright relation.

4. In a combination article of the character described, the combinationwith a handleshank having an offset end, of a oker-finger carried bysaid offset end, a shove -blade having an offset stem pivoted to theshank contiguous to the offset terminal thereof and movable to aposition alongside the pokerfinger, said finger having teeth on the sidethat is adjacent to and coacts with the shovelblade, and means mountedon the handleshank and connected to the stem of the shovelblade forswinging said blade.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own-I have hereto affixedmy signaturein the presence of two witnesses.

JOSEPH WEILIE MAXWELL.

Witnesses:

- WM. B. THOMAS,

J NO. T. BARHAW.

